SUBSTANCE ABUSE

AMONG PRISONERS AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

Abstract

Objectives: To study the prevalence of substance abuse among prisoners and its
effects on other inmates. Study design: A cross sectional study. Place and duration of study:
Central jail Faisal Abad Pakistan during Jan. 2012 to Feb 2012. Methodology: All the convicted
and condemned prisoners were included in the study and those exclusively charged for drugs
abuse crimes were excluded. A snow ball convenient sampling technique was adopted. Sample
size was not predetermined. The study population was (1080) male and above the age of 18
years. Results: About one hundred and eighty four (184) prisoners were found using different
drugs. Among them seventy six 76 (41.3%) started using drugs on entering the prison and one
hundred and eight 108 (58.7%) were using drugs before coming to prison. The 91(49.5 %)
belonged to rural area and 93 (50.5%) belonged to urban areas. The most commonly used drug
was heroin 181(96.7%) and 3(.6%) used different drugs like injections or pills. Conclusions:
Substance abuse among prisoners was increasing day by day leading to increased crimes,
health issues, and significant economic constrains in every country especially among poor
nations. Strong political will and public motivation was the need of time to deal with the issue.